Students lead effort to protect valley

As part of the Kuleana Project, Taylor Komagone, left, Joel Yagi, center, and Isa Macdonald remind passing motorists in Manoa of their responsibility to help prevent pollution and keep the community clean. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

The idea was simple enough: get Manoa residents to take better care of their beautiful valley. But how to do it?

James Urso, a senior at Mid-Pacific Institute, evaluated the oxygen level of water from various sources as part of a community project to help reduce stream pollution in Manoa. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Besides, project organizers reasoned, the younger generation should learn about responsible behavior and caring for the environment. Maybe they can do a better job of taking care of things when it's their turn.

The goal was to recruit students from Manoa area schools to go to 1,000 Manoa households and get people to change their ways.

In the end, it was teachers and principals, retirees and working scientists, public and private schools, kids from third grade to seniors in Advanced Placement Environmental Science, Boy Scout troops, art teachers and the Board of Water Supply all working together in a massive effort that came to be called the Kuleana Project.

It started almost exactly a year ago when the tour bus Nakano was on broke down. Twice. The tour was offered through the Ala Wai Watershed Association.

"I decided to go on the all-day tour because it was free — free lunch, too! — and we were going to places on the Windward side that I had never seen before," she said.

While the tour group waited to get moving again, the director of the association filled the time by talking about the old ahupua'a system of caring for the land and water from the mountains to the ocean, recognizing the interconnectedness, and the problems of development and urbanization on a watershed.

"I got a real education during the bus breakdowns," Nakano said.

She also learned about EPA grant money available through the association for communities interested in doing projects. Less than two weeks later, she got the community group Malama O Manoa to bite on the idea.

"Malama O Manoa is a grassroots community organization founded in 1992. We have no staff, no office and no phone. We have a Web site and a P.O. box," Nakano said. "In such an organization, it is an unspoken rule that if you make a suggestion, you have to do the work."

She wasn't alone, though. Dan Dinell, a Manoa resident and the executive director of the Hawai'i Community Development Authority, said he would help. "I had never seen him before," Nakano said. He became her right hand on the project.

Nakano, a retired financial planner who also has a background in education, is the kind of person who can move mountains — or in this case, clean a stream, one handful at a time. She has that kind of energy and fierce focus, and she knows how to motivate people to get involved.

When the money from the EPA was no longer available, Nakano didn't flinch. She kept right on talking with teachers, recruiting volunteers and planning the massive project. She moved forward in the belief that money for it would be found.

In June of last year, Malama O Manoa approached the Honolulu Board of Water Supply for help in paying for the project.

"When I first saw the proposal, I thought, whoa, this is very ambitious," said Barry Usagawa, water resources principal executive for the Board of Water Supply.

Ambitious, but just the sort of community-based project in which the Board of Water Supply is interested. Since 2001, BWS has paid for and participated in other community efforts to build back watersheds. For example, on the Leeward Coast, school students are conducting a five-year study of the effects of shutting down mauka wells in Makaha Valley.

"I was impressed by the people I interviewed ... But I had to tell them washing cars on the street is bad, that it's better to wash cars on the grass so there's a dual purpose of watering the lawn." Shukuko Fujitani Senior, Mid-Pacific Institute Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

By August, 12 area schools were signed on. Each teacher received a $150 honorarium and a budget of $1,000 to spend on the project. Some teachers bought digital cameras to document their students' efforts. Others bought water testing kits. One bought a GPS (global positioning satellite) tracker that would pinpoint exactly where students were taking water samples from Manoa Stream.

There were essay contests and free field trips to the wastewater treatment plant, the distribution of educational packets, stream clean-ups and water monitoring and a massive storm-drain stenciling effort, but the meat of the Kuleana Project was a 35-question survey given to families in Manoa. The idea was to talk with 1,000 families in single-family residences about how they use water and how they handle household waste and chemicals, but not in an intrusive, off-putting way.

"There was never an intention to just show up at people's homes," says Daniel Gaudiano, environmental science teacher at Mid-Pacific Institute. "We went to relatives and personal contacts, and we made appointments to do the surveys."

Gaudiano, who is from Rhode Island, was hesitant to take on such a labor-intensive project with his classes.

"At first I said 'no thank you.' I was new to the island, new to the school, and it just seemed like a lot of work. But they asked again, and they promised to help, so I said yes."

The help came from a cadre of volunteers, mostly kupuna, many of whom are retired educators, who were assigned to each school. Nakano wanted to call them "Malama O Manoa volunteer liaison/coordinators" but they insisted on being called "Gofers." These Gofers helped with the paperwork. They prepared survey results, dropped off supplies to the schools, brought back information to the coordinator, arranged for guest speakers, and helped with accounting, collating and final reports. Sometimes they even brought snacks.

"We know how hard the teachers work," said Noelani School Gofer Vi Hiranaka, a retired principal. "Our job was to do whatever they needed us to do to make the project work."

The students were asked to make three visits: first, to get responses to the 35-question survey; then, to "correct" the survey and give the respondents feedback on their answers; and then, a third time, to evaluate whether any positive changes had been made.

"I was impressed by the people I interviewed," said Shukuko Fujitani, a Mid-Pacific 12th-grader. "They really cared about how they treat their house, like recycling and things like that. But I had to tell them washing cars on the street is bad, that it's better to wash cars on the grass so there's a dual purpose of watering the lawn."

MOFFAT

STODDEN

Other schools had their out-of-town students interview teachers, custodians or cafeteria workers who live in Manoa. Some teachers told their students, "Just go home and interview your parents. We all can benefit from this no matter where we live."

Mid-Pacific senior Gavin Moffat interviewed the school's principal, who lives on campus. "He answered to the best of his knowledge, but the school's maintenance department takes care of his yard, so he wasn't sure about fertilizers and pesticides and things like that." Moffat did effect a change in the timing of the sprinkler system at the principal's house, though. "Most people time their sprinklers to go off during the day when they're not home, but it's much better to water your yard at night or in the early morning."

Senior James Urso said, "The first question on the survey asks when you think O'ahu will have a water shortage. People were guessing in five years, in 15 years. The correct answer is now. So people know there's a problem, but they don't realize it's so severe."

"We went to the water-treatment plant and they talked about how much water we use on this island every day," said senior Coll Stodden. "If every person on the island can save just a gallon of water a day, that's a million gallons."

And that's what Malama O Manoa volunteers are hoping comes next. Nakano is doing presentations to other communities on how to do similar projects in their neighborhood.

On March 6, the project will culminate in a community "finale" with awards, certificates, panel discussions and an evaluation of how well the kids did in changing people's habits. Hard numbers aren't really possible in a broad, nonscientific community survey like this, though Usagawa is hoping participants will notice a drop in their use on their water bills. But the real goal is to get people to start thinking about their individual responsibility to the island.

"That's what the Kuleana Project is about," Usagawa said. "To change not only because we're asking you to, but because it's the right thing to do and if you can keep doing it for the rest of your life and you teach others, that's the goal. Is it measurable? I guess we'll find out. But I have to think that the effort has made a difference."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at lcataluna@honolulu advertiser.com or 535-8172.

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Part of questionnaire used by Manoa students

Survey asks: Are you doing the right thing? Among the questions on which Manoa students polled their parents and friends in a survey about the environment: Fertilization Do you use fertilizer in your yard or garden? Which best describes the kinds of fertilizer you use? Pesticides How often do you use pesticides or herbicides in your yard? Have you ever applied them when it is windy or raining? How do you store them? Vehicles What do you do when oil, coolant or brake fluid spills onto your ground or driveway? Do you change these fluids at your home? If so, what do you usually do with waste fluids? Animals Do you have a pet that spends time outdoors? What do you do with its waste?